Administrator of richard



(NoModelJ 'I A I I' f R. LONG, Dec d.

J. M. JOHNSON, Administrator.

RAIL JOINT.

NM1-3,622.' `Pm-,emd 00t.22,1889.

@-m/zfm amy@ my M' N. PETERSSFMbl-ihogm. Wnhingim Dal:

, UNITEU PATENTl OFFICE.

JAMES M. JOHNSON, orl CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, YADMINISTRATOR or RICHARD LONG. DECEAsED.

RAIL-JolNT.

SPECIFICATION forming part ef Letters Patent No. 413,622,11eted october 22, 1889.

' Appiieetion sled Meyiii, 1889. seal No. 310,453. (No model.)

To a/Zwwm/ t may concern,.- i

Be it known that RICHARD LONG, late a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Chicago, county-of Cook, and

State of lllinois`,-deceased, did during his lifetime invent a new and useful Improvement y in Rail-Joints, of which the following is a speciiication.- i

This invention relates to rail-j oint supports; and it has for its obj ect to improve the oonstruction of such joints, and to provide a simple, cheap, and eective joint which shall fl not only furnish the necessary degree of strength, but the desired elasticity or flexi- `I5 bility to the joint; and to these ends the invention vconsists in a rail-joint constructed and arranged substantially as hereinafter setforth.

. Referring to the accompanying drawings, jizo Figure l is a side View showing one embodiment of the invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional View. Fig. 3 is another side view, showing a slightly-different Aembodiment of the same joint. It is well known that one of the `most serious problems connected with the track or way of a railroad is to provide suitable and proper connections for the adjacent ends of therails, and as the'use of heavy'steel rails increases, 3o necessitated by the increased weight of en'- gines and cars and rapidity of travel, the question becomes more and more difficult, and while agreat deal of time, money, and ingenuity has `been spent in attempts to produce 3 5 aA satisfactory means of connection of the rails, and many devices and arrangements have been made, they are all more or less obv j ectionable and unsatisfactory, and fail to meet to their fullest extent the requirements 4o of the present railroad construction. It has been considered that one of the most important features in thisconnection was to produce a joint or connection having great strength and rigidity, andmany of the efforts made have been to improve the construction and arrangement of the joint in this direction.

The present invention is based to a certain degree upon the assumption that the per- 5o fected trackshould be so arranged and. constructed that all portions thereof Vshall be of the same strength and rigidity and still have the same degree of elasticity-and flexibility, and the nearer the construction approaches this idea the more perfect will it be. While great strength and rigidity within certain limits is absolutely necessary, it is also advantageous, and indeed necessary, that there should vbe a certain degree of elasticity and flexibility in the rails themselves, and one ob- 6o ject of this invention is to produce a rail-joint which shall not only have the required degree of rigidity, but shall have the same de? gree of flexibility and elasticity as the bodyof the rail itself. /Vhile this idea may bev carried out in various ways, what is considered to be the preferable form of its embodi Inent will now be described.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, A B represent the adjacent ends of two rails, 7o shown to be of the usual construction, and these rest, yas usual, upon the sleepers C C, the point of junction of the two rails being preferably midway between the said sleepers. Supported upon the sleeper and extending 7.5 under the adjacent ends of the railsis a base-V plate D, and this base-plate, while it may be variously formed and arranged, is shown as channeled or grooved at d throughout yits length, and this groove is of a width equal to 8o the base of the rail and a depth varying according to the circumstances of the case, it being shown in Fig. 2 of a depth about equal to the thickness of the flange of the rail at its edge. This base-plate is shown firmly spiked or secured to the ties or sleepers, and the ad.- jacent ends of the rails are firmly held in line against lateral stress by the ribs formed on the base-plate D, thus securing on curves a joint just as truly in line as a straight track- 9o rail. In order to secure and hold the ends of the rails on this base-plate, angle-plates E E are used, and these are shown in Fig. l as provided with ya single bolt-hole in the upright portion, through which passesa single bolt, taking into notches formed in the ends of the webs of the rails, and this is the construction preferred in laying new tracks; but when the invention is to be applied tot-racks already laid having the usual perforations in Ioo the webs for the bolts of the ordinary fishplate, angle-plates substantially as shown in Fig. 3 are used, each having two holes in the upright portion to correspond with the end ones in the webs of the rails. These angleplates are made to tit the web of the rail, but do not extend up to or support the head of the rail, as is usual with the ordinary lishplate joints, as these angle-plates are not depended upon for any vertical support to the rail, but are simply made use of for the purpose of assisting in keeping the rails in line laterally, as on curves, thus preventing foul or lip joints, and to connect the rails rmly wiihthe base-plate, and this last feature is accomplished by means of the nuts and bolts e2 passing through the thick part of the base-plate, and thereby all creeping orslipping of the rails is prevented, as they are firmly secured to the base-plate, andthe base-plate in turn is firmly secured to the ties.

While the devices thus far described tend to prevent lateral displacement of the rails and to maintain the rail-joints in proper relations to each other, it is obvious that they do not properly support the rail vertically, and in order to do this and, as before stated, produce a suiciently strong support, and which at the same time will allow of a certain amount of elasticity to the joint, preferably equal to the elasticity of the railbetween other ties, there is provided a truss which operates to support the adjacent rails at their points of junction. While this truss may be variously constructed, what is considered to be a .practical form consists of two members, one the frame F, shown in the form of a U-shapedbolt or yoke-piece, the ends of which are connected to the base-plate by screws and nuts f, by means of which the frame or yoke-piece can be adjusted. This frame serves as an abutment for the ends of the otherv member of the truss and operates to control the longitudinal tension thereof. The other or arched member of the truss is shown as consisting of a spring-plate G, the upper or central portion of which rests or bears upon the base-plate directly under the point of junction of the rails, and the ends of which rest or bear upon the U-frame or yoke-piece, as shown. This truss-plate is made to have a certain amount of elasticity, and the tension of the plate may be adjusted as desired by raising or lowering the truss-frame or U-bolt, so that the pressure of the spring-truss upon the base-plate will be just sufficient to render this portion of the track as elastic as the other portions, and it is evident that it may be quickly and easily adjusted to meet the different conditions of the rails at the joint. This spring truss-plate is preferably made of a low grade of steel, which will have the desired degree of elasticity without brittleness; but of course other materials may be used.

While the construction illustrated is deemed one of the best, it is evident that many modications may be made which will embody sub- For instance, in-

3) may be used, which Will be practically rigid and furnish the necessary strength, and in order to produce the desired elasticity the truss-frame may be supported upon strong spring supports or washers f', as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, placed under the nuts f.

The invention is not limited to any specific construction and arrangement, the essential feature being that the adjacent ends of the rails shall be supported at or near their point of junction by a truss which shall not only aord the requisite strength and rigidity, but permit of the desired flexibility and elasticity. It will also be evident that the improved truss-support may be used either with or without the fish-plates, for, as before stated, the

-plates are used not for the purpose of supporting the joint against Vertical stress, but simply to aid in maintaining the rails in position against lateral strain, and in applying the invention to new lines of track the drilling of the web of the rails to provide the ordinary holes for the fish-plate, which tend to weaken more or less the strength of the webs, may be saved; or when the single-bolt angleplate is used each rail can simply be cut to a small extent for the reception of half of the bolt.

The base-plate may in some instances be dispensed with and the frame of the truss secured directly to the ianges of the rails or to the extended iianges of. the angle-plates, and in that case the spring member of the truss would bear directly upon the rails themselves. This arrangement, however, is not deemed suitable for roads over which heavy and rapid trains pass. l

Anotherimportant feature of the invention, especially' when applied to lines already laid, lies in the fact that the truss is adjustable, so that not only can it be adjusted to maintain the required degree of strength and elasticity, but in this way a low or deflected joint may be raised and straightened and afterward main tained in proper alignment.

Other features of advantage resulting from the use of the improved truss might be stated; but they are apparent upon inspection by those skilled in the art, and it is not deemed necessary to recite them herein.

1. In a rail-joint support, a spring-truss arranged to support the ends of the rails, adjustable for regulating the tension of the truss, substantially as described.

2. In a rail-joint support, a spring-truss consisting of a spring member and a longitudinal tension member for said spring, substantially as described.

3. In a rail-joint support, a truss consisting of a spring member arranged to support the rails at their point of junction, and a supporting-frame for the spring member afford- IOO IIO

piece, substantially ing abutments united byma' longitudinal mem- I ber for the ends of the said spring member,

substantially as described.

4. A rail-joint support consistingof a spring member supporting-the rails at their point of junction, and a riframe or supporting member, said supporting member being adjustable for regulating the tension substantially as described.

5.In a rail-joint supporta truss consisting'of an arched spring member and a supporting member, said supporting member be; ing adjustable for regulating the tension of the arched member upon the rails, substantially as described.

6. Ina rail-joint support, a trussk consisting ofan arched member arranged directly under a frame or supporting member suspended be- W the rails, forming abutments for the ends of the arched member, substantially as described. Y

7. In a rail-joint support, a truss consisting ot' an arched plate of spring material, a

yoke or `U-b'olt piece supporting said archedV member, and `adjusting-nuts for said yokeas described.

S. In a rail-joint support, the combination, with the rails, of a channeled base-piece, a

of the spring member,`

member, the centerof the point of junction of the rails, andtruss consisting of a spring member bearing against the base-piece, and a yoke or frame supporting the spring member and connected to the base-piece, substantially asv described.

9. In a rail-joint support, the combination, with the rails, of a channeled base-piece, angie-plates secured to said base-piece and to the rails, and a truss consisting of an arched ing connected to the base-plate adjacent to the junction of the rails, and the ends of the arched member being connected to be supported by the base-plate, substantially as described.

10. In a rail-joint support, the combination, with the rails, of the channeled base-plate, the angle-plates having a central bolt passing through recesses in the adjacent Webs of the rails and secured to the base-plate, and a truss for supporting the base-plate at or near the point of junction of the rails, substantially as described.

f JAMES M. JOHNSON, Administrator to collect amd Long, deceased.

Witnesses WM. S. vBREWSTFR, JAMES H. SHELDoN.

of the estate of Rich:

the arched member be- It is herebyV certiied lthat in Letters Patent No. 413,622; granted October 22, 1889, upon the application of James M. Johnson, of Chicago, Illinois, administrator of Richard Long, deceased, for an improvement in Rail-Joints, were erroneously issued to saidtJames M. Johnson,` administratoras owner of the entire interest in the patent; that said Letters Patent should have been issued to the Long Spring Trnss Joint Company, a corporation organized under the laws of the State of Illinois, said Long Spring Truss Joint Company being owners, by assignment, of the entire interest in said invention; and that said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case the Patent Oice.

Signed, countersigned, and sealed this 29th day of October, A. D. 1889.

[SEAL] f GYRUS BUSSEY,

Assistant Secretary ofthe Interior.

C ountersigned G. E. MITCHELL,

Correction in Letters Patent No. 413,622.

` Commissioner of Patents. 

